Champagne is the most guarded wine region on earth and one of its biggest secrets is beginning to get out. The age of a bottle of non-vintage champagne has long been a mystery. It’s been impossible to distinguish from the label a fresh, young bottle from a stale one, to track a collection in the […]

Over the course of seven years, hundreds of tastings around the world and more than a dozen visits to Champagne, I have been privileged to taste more than 2,600 cuvées from more than 200 houses, from the very youngest releases all the way back to the grand old vintage of 1830. My list of 100 […]

Which are the estates to watch in Champagne this year? Who are the rock solid performers and who have tracked the most spectacular trajectory into the stratosphere in the seven years since I released the first edition of The Champagne Guide? At the start of a new year and the occasion of the release of […]

Publishing a full back catalogue of thousands of champagne reviews is something I have long studiously avoided. I’m more interested in recommending champagnes that you can go out and buy and drink than those you can’t. The mandate that gave birth to The Champagne Guide seven years ago and inspired five editions since was to […]

No other country drinks champagne like Hong Kong. This country has been bubbling along on an incredible champagne wave like no other. But all this is changing. In the weeks before the inaugural Taste Champagne Hong Kong, I take an intensive look at this unique market and discover more than one surprise. Hong Kong is […]

Tyson Stelzer announces his top 50 sparkling buys of the moment and discovers that the best deals are not where you might expect. You’ll always get the best sparkling deal by walking into your local chain store where the lowest prices are guaranteed, right? This year, if you shop around, you might be in for […]

Introducing the inaugural Taste Champagne Hong Kong, hosted by Tyson Stelzer, International Wine & Spirit Communicator of the Year, in conjunction with Watson’s Wine. For the past four years, Taste Champagne Australia has grown to become the largest champagne showcase on earth, this year showcasing 215 cuvées from 74 houses for more than 1,000 top […]

MOËT & CHANDON BREAKS THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS TITLE FOR THE LARGEST CHAMPAGNE TASTING EVENT AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Today on Global Champagne Day, Moët & Chandon, in partnership with Vintage Cellars, broke the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the Largest Champagne tasting at the iconic Sydney Opera House on their 44th birthday with over […]

The winners of The Great Australian Red 2017 represent an exciting set of relative newcomers, showcasing a continued and exciting evolution for Australia’s definitive blend of cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. In a resounding statement of the value of this blend, the winner of The Great Australian Red 2017 was Pepperjack Certified Shiraz Cabernet 2016, a […]

The new round of Penfolds releases is coming on 19 October, in classy embossed and debossed bottles for the first time. This year the wines to buy are 2014 St Henri, 2015 Bin 389, 2015 Bin 138 and 2016 Bin 311. Some prices are up (again) this year, most notably St Henri and Bin A […]